Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for bending and tempering a glass plate, in which the latter is heated in a horizontal position in a continuous furnace to the bending temperature. After reaching the bending temperature it is raised from the conveyor by a suction plate movable over the glass plate, and with the aid of the suction plate is brought over a concave circumferential bending ring, is bent by dropping onto the circumferential bending ring and while resting on the latter is tempered by blowing cooling air onto both of its sides.
A known method of this type (EP 0 003 391, EP 0 164 823) is already used to a considerable extent. In said known method, after raising the glass pate from the conveyor by the suction plate, the circumferential bending ring is moved into the furnace. The glass plate is discharged onto the circumferential bending ring within the furnace and the ring with the bent glass plate is moved out of the furnace and into the tempering station positioned alongside the latter.
From DE-AS 20 00 271 it is known to raise a glass plate from a belt conveyor with the aid of a horizontally movable suction plate, to bend the same on the latter by suction action, to move the bent glass plate with the suction plate between blowing boxes and then to place the same again on the belt conveyor extending from the furnace to behind the cooling mechanism. During the tempering process the glass plate is located directly on the belt conveyor.
DE-36 40 892 Al discloses a suction plate movable from a continuous roll furnace into an adjacent bending station. In this known apparatus and the method performed by it the glass plate is placed on a bending mold in the bending station, which bending mold comprises a frame bending mold and a bending mold filling the space within the frame bending mold, and the glass plate is bent by a hot gas flow acting from above on the glass plate. With the aid of the frame bending mold, the bent glass plate is subsequently brought into a blowing station positioned alongside the bending station.